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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29124459">Trapped Beneath Your Tide</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverBackDown001/pseuds/NeverBackDown001'>NeverBackDown001</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCIS</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Best Friends, Bombing, F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Heavy Angst, Idiots in Love, Loss of Faith, Love Confessions, Near Death Experiences, Sad with a Happy Ending, Unrequited Love</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 11:47:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,823</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29124459</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverBackDown001/pseuds/NeverBackDown001</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Stuck inside an elevator from a recent bombing at NCIS HQ, both Ellie and Nick reflect on their past choices and decide that maybe it's the time to make new ones.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Delilah Fielding/Timothy McGee, Ellie Bishop &amp; Nick Torres, Ellie Bishop/Nick Torres</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>65</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Trapped Beneath Your Tide</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Loved writing this, probably one of my favorite crime show pairing(can't wait to see them get together in the show lol), enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They didn't make it out in time. </p>
<p>That much was pretty freaking obvious.</p>
<p>There had been a bomb threat, a case they had been working on when they had the time for almost four months. Maha Jones, a former Navy technician and specialized in bombs during her time at sea. She had gone off the grid, plunged into insurmountable darkness, drove herself crazy after being the only survivor of a blast aboard a sailboat off the coast of Japan. So she started to become the bomber and in the process had killed seven people. </p>
<p>Nick didn't want to think how many more where dead now. </p>
<p>Ellie and Nick where some of the last to evacuate, Gibbs and McGee had already headed down to the parking lot where Bomb Squad was set up. The two of them had stayed back to make sure everyone was out. They took the elevators when they should have taken the stairs. </p>
<p>How could they be so stupid? </p>
<p>The blast shook the elevator, the two of them grabbed the railings as the elevator rumbled, halting to a screaming stop and the emergency lights dimming to that blue. Before Nick could ask Ellie if she was okay, a chunk of the ceiling caved inwards, forcing the two of them to the floor. </p>
<p>This is where he was going to die. Trapped in an elevator. Oh how cruel whatever spirits there where above. </p>
<p>"Are you okay?" He managed to say as the dust started to clear in the tiny elevator, it seemed smaller now that he was trapped in it. Where the roof had caved in, was on her side, and it would break soon. Nick wouldn't be able to stand, but he could sit down. </p>
<p>Ellie managed a cough and nodded. "Yeah." She sighed and had one hand on the gun resting on her belt, like someone was going to come bursting through. </p>
<p>"You think Gibbs and McGee are okay?" Ellie let out another strangled cough. </p>
<p>Nick didn't want to think about it really. He didn't want to think of his boss to be dead and one of his best friends, a dad to two little bursting rays of sunshine to be dead as well. They probably made it out of the building in time. He had to hope that. </p>
<p>"Hopefully." He leaned his head on the cool metal of the elevator, the dim lights made Bishop look ghostly, from where she sat across from him, her hair that was once in a messy pony tail now plastered to her face. </p>
<p>"I hate elevators." She mumbled, Nick almost didn't hear it. </p>
<p>"You hate elevators? You've been riding up to our floor in one for six years El, how can you hate elevators?" </p>
<p>She let out one of those half amused laughs, one that he could tell was being somewhat forced. "I'm claustraphobic, you know that. Elevators are fine until you're trapped in them and probably going to die in them." </p>
<p>"We're not going to die." He assured her, but even he was doubtful. How would they be able to get them while trapped in an elevator shaft. And how long would it be until then? Did they even know where they where? Or if they where alive? </p>
<p>"Right." Ellie grit her teeth like that had triggered her in some way. "Just reminds me of a story McGee told." </p>
<p>Nick raised an eyebrow as she scooted over to his side, her features became a little clearer, sweat trickled down her forehead, golden blonde hair smothered on her neck and forehead, those greenish gray eyes where half full of fear and half full of something Nick couldn't understand. He also was pretty aware of how close she was, and it lit his skin on fire when their arms brushed slightly. </p>
<p>"Oh yeah? What about?" He was curious to know what story McGee had told her, hoping it wasn't going to be sad or stupid. </p>
<p>"You remember the bombing about eight-ish years ago right?" </p>
<p>Nick nodded. "The crazy guy who lost his son and took it out on us? Yeah, I was deep cover in Columbia, but I heard about it." </p>
<p>"Well, just like us, Ziva David and Tony DiNozzo got stuck in an elevator for three hours the day the bomb blew. McGee, he was hit with this chunk of shrapnel and Gibbs, well, it was Gibbs, he wasn't harmed. But Tony and Ziva where in here, for hours and hours, thinking they where going to die, just like us." </p>
<p>Nick laughed. "We should call them and see if they left the instructions on how to survive." </p>
<p>Ellie smiled, the dim lights made everything seem so much darker and worse than it probably was. He liked her smile. It was bright, like sunshine that shone through dark clouds and lighting up the world below. It was also mezmerizng, he couldn't take his eyes off her when she did smile because it was too freaking distracting. </p>
<p>"We should probably figure out on how to get out of here." </p>
<p>Ellie, who was much shorter than Nick, could stand on her knees and punch the buttons without hitting her head on the low ceiling, but nothing worked. She probably hit every button twice but to no avail. They where ultimatley stuck here and Nick was not liking it. </p>
<p>They really should have taken the stairs.</p>
<p>"Kind of wish I had some cinnamon sugar puffs." Ellie sighed, sitting back down and leaning her head back like he was. Nick just chuckled amicably.</p>
<p>"Out of all the things you could be craving, it's those nasty sugar puff. Those taste like garbage El, you need a better selection of snacks." </p>
<p>"You eat protein powder straight from the jar, you don't even mix it in your drinks. And you eat that for all three meals. You need a selection of snacks in general." She retorted quickly, snapping back at him. </p>
<p>He raised his hands in that mock surrender that drove her nuts. "Sorry that I don't eat twenty four seven and have a locked cabinet full of sweets. Honestly, you guard that with your life." </p>
<p>El raised an eyebrow. "Sorry that I get hungry. Sorry that food helps me think." </p>
<p>It was quiet for a few moments. Nick dug out his phone to see if he could call anyones but he had no bars. Someone must have knocked out the Wifi. Who could be so evil, that they just had to knock out the WIFI? </p>
<p>He wanted to say something. That he was sorry that he was the one to suggest they take the elevators. He honestly figured that it would be quicker, the faster they got out of there, the better. The faster that she was safe, the faster the relief would come and take off the worry from his heart and chest. Because if he lost her, he'd go back into the darkness, like he had with Sofia, like he had when people close to him got hurt. He ran. </p>
<p>"You ever think that it's too much." She whispers out of the blue. Nick raises his head to look at her, staring at the ceiling, her back slumped, sweater bunched up in her hand, clenching it in a white knuckled fist. "Like this is all too much and one day....one day....you end up dead?" </p>
<p>Nick did think sometimes that this job was too much. That one day he would find himself in the position, like this one, where he wouldn't end up making it out alive. Where he would be buried six feet under and his photo pinned up on a wall of those that where lost, remembered yet one day would be forgotten. </p>
<p>"Sometimes." Is all he can say to this. </p>
<p>"When I was working at the NSA, i used to think that a job like this, would never happen. That I'd never get the chance because I was a simple analyst, crunching numbers and writing reports. There are times where I wonder if.....if I should have stayed there." </p>
<p>Nick frowns to this, Ellie never talked much about her time at the NSA because it was in the past and Ellie never brought up the past. Well, only if that past was painful. He knew some things, she was his best friend and partner in crime. He knew that she never talked about her ex-husband or Qasim, never brought up Reeves or her time in the Middle East. She kept them hidden and he hated when she did that. </p>
<p>"I remember a time when I thought being deep cover was the only thing I would ever do. That one day my cover would be blown and I'd be dead. But this team...McGee, Gibbs....you, you helped me."</p>
<p>Ellie looks to him, those green gray eyes are misty, wrapped in shrouds of unknown. It's hard to tell what she's feeling. </p>
<p>"This job has taken so much from me." She brings her knee's up and wraps her arms around them, rocking herself in a gentle motion. "I don't know what it's going to take next." </p>
<p>"But think about what it's given you El. And other people. It gave McGee a family, Gibbs a purpose and well...Ziva her life back." He says softly, gently reminding her that good did come from this job. In his many years of being here, he had saved so many people, they had, as a team. </p>
<p>Ellie let out that exasperated sigh and drummed her fingers on the floor of the elevator, it was starting to get hot in the tiny enclosed space, the air thickening.</p>
<p>"I know, I know I should focus on the good, but how can I while we're stuck in an elevator after a bomb just went off?" </p>
<p>Nick shrugged and scooted a little closer to her, in the hopes that maybe he could comfort her in some way, his heart pounding in his chest, skin hot and almost itching to be close to her. He felt...safer around her. </p>
<p>"Honestly Bishop, I don't know. But I do know that you've made this world a little safer, you've taken down so many bad guys, and...honestly made all of our lives better." </p>
<p>She looked up, her greenish eyes shining in the soft blue lights of the cramped elevator. "Yeah?" </p>
<p>He nods. "Yeah." </p>
<p>She reaches out her arm and wraps it around his shoulder, at first the touch electrifies him, like he's touched a power wire and he's being zapped by lightning. Because she's so strong as she pulls him closer to her, they're trapped in an elevator, which grows extremely warm, probably going to die, but she's there and her touch brings him back to life. Ellie's right there, sitting so close that his skin really is on fire and his chest starts to feel like it's being weighted down by a carton of bricks. </p>
<p>He used to deny that feeling. For so long he told himself she was out of reach, he could never get her, he told himself that she wasn't his type, Ellie was a nerd, he was a gym junkie who rode motor-cycles and drank beer in place of water. No, she deserved someone who was kind, caring, sweet and selfless, not a rat from the depths of a smelly, water-logged sewer. </p>
<p>Nick stopped denying a while ago. </p>
<p>An hour passed and then another, it seemed to be that no-one was coming for them. The elevator was growing hot, the sides weren't as chilled. the dimming lights almost hurt his head. They tried shifting the rubble countless times, pushing the buttons, calling for help. But it was all to no avail. They where stuck here. He was glad that there was an oxygen vent in the corner or they would be short in breath. </p>
<p>Ellie had nodded off for a while, he did too, there was nothing to do except talk and try not to think about if their friends where alive or not out there. Or if they where even helping, trying to find them. </p>
<p>"Wish I had a beer, make the time pass." He grumbled. </p>
<p>"Or even some Netflix, I'd go for an episode of New Girl." Ellie sighed, stretching out in the tiny space they had. </p>
<p>"Really?" Nick said in surprise. "Took you for an action movie kind of girl." </p>
<p>Ellie lets out a soft, amused chuckle. "Well just because I had three brothers didn't exempt me from comedies or rom-com's.  I used to make them watch sitcoms with me whenever we could. My oldest brother, George, hated it, but they all secretly loved hanging with their little sis." </p>
<p>Nick likes it when she talks with joy in her voice, happiness in indulging with those memories, soaking in the warmth in her voice was a treat he'd always be craving. </p>
<p>"Last time I saw them....was well a year ago, when I went home for the Fourth." Ellie then says, her voice drooping with that terrible sadness. </p>
<p>"You'll get too see them again Ellie, we'll get out of here." </p>
<p>"When? It's been three hours Torres. Too goddamn long." She growls, her knuckles again going white from having a fistful of her jacket in hand. </p>
<p>He really did want to comfort her, tell her it was okay. That they would get out of here alive and it would all be fine and dandy. </p>
<p>Nick couldn't promise her anything though. </p>
<p>He shifted closer to her, taking his turn and wrapping an arm around her shoulder, drawing her closer to him, because he felt the urge too, the need to make sure that she was going to be okay. That mattered more than anything in the world to him. Her soft intoxicating scent was driving him mad, not because he wasn't used to it, but because she was right here. Right here next to him. </p>
<p>"Remember Charlie and Luis?" He prods, the fun memory of their undercover assignment propped up in his memory suddenly. And that kiss they shared in the little seaside shop, and how even if incredibly short, still made his heart jump in his chest. </p>
<p>Ellie laughs. "Even if we both almost died, that was fun." </p>
<p>"Kind of miss it." He replies with a click in his tougne. "Felt...almost freeing, you know?" </p>
<p>"If you call us being drug dealers and me a escort than yeah, freeing." </p>
<p>"You know what I meant."</p>
<p>"Do I?" She cocked her head to the side, greenish eyes looking up at him curiously. And when he looked at, her, like really looked at her, he could see she was thinking of the same thing, that short but sweet kiss. He had hoped for weeks and weeks after that, that they would go undercover again. But they hadn't.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I think you do." </p>
<p>She raises a hefty brow. "Maybe you should remind me, my memory is a bit fuzzy." </p>
<p>Did she really say that? </p>
<p>Did she? </p>
<p>Because his heart and mind are spinning into overdrive, his skin overheating and his entire chest just wanted to explode. There was no way that his Ellie had said that. She wasn't the kind to do that. Yes, he was, but not her. </p>
<p>But he cupped her face in his other hand, titling her chin upwards just a little, their breaths mingling on each other's cheeks. Her eyes darted to his lips and then back to his dark eyes, drinking in the fact that they where mere centimeters from one another. </p>
<p>He steadied his nerves, and closed the gap. At first he thought that if an asteroid hit the Earth and wiped out all life, or if they died right now, he wouldn't care because this...this was what he had been waiting for, and for a long, long time. Her lips where soft, delicate against his. She tasted like barbecue potato chips and minty gum, he savored it, like it was the last thing he would ever taste. </p>
<p>This had to be a dream because there was no way in hell she was kissing him back, her arms wrapped around his neck, body flushed against him, kissing him, because Ellie Bishop was an angel dancing with a demon. </p>
<p>The sound of voices and banging of metal broke them apart. </p>
<p>"Torres! Bishop!" It was the sound of McGee calling for them, making them realize they where still in the elevator. </p>
<p>"Here!" They both called out in unison, moving away from each other as the door was pried open, revealing McGee and a dozen other fire fighters. </p>
<p>"Nice!" McGee sounded relieved. "You're alive. Well, that's good." The guy said rather bluntly. As much as he was glad to be getting out of this elevator, and seeing one of his best friends very much alive, his lips where still tingling and his mind still buzzing. </p>
<p>Climbing out of the elevators, the two of them made their way to the ground floor, stealing glances at each other the whole way down.</p>
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